Rising in the forest along the Stockholm archipelago is one of the most talked about new architectural designs in Sweden: a summer house designed by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter. Winner of the WAN 2013 House of Year, an award bestowed by the UK's World Architecture News, the concrete compound with its pitched roofs, single length of windows, and seemingly endless horizon is a seaside escape for the 21st century.
Stockholm-based Tham & Videgård oversaw every element of the project, including the interiors and landscape design. (The fact that the house is located on the mainland, they say, enabled a design that relies on heavy construction materials, such as concrete.) Granite formations pattern the setting and the wall of windows opens the house to the coast. The compound itself consists of two side by side structures, a main house and a guest house connected by an open gable. And, rest assured, that close to the shore stands the Scandi-essential sauna cottage, built from a single block of concrete.
Photography by Åke E:son Lindman via Yatzer.
Above: The compound consists of a series of gabled concrete elevations with a central open gable sheltered by a pitched glass roof. The entrance to the main house is on the courtyard's left and the guest house is on the right. A lack of windows in the front provides privacy and presents a sculptural, and deceptively simple, façade.
Above: A wall of sliding glass doors along the ocean side of the structure celebrates the austere light of the north.
Above: The house has a long central living space with vast views across the Baltic Sea and out to neighboring islands.
Above The open living space runs parallel to a a wall of sliding wood paneled doors that discreetly section off three bedrooms, a kitchen, and bath. Each of these front-facing rooms is defined on the exterior by its own concrete peaked roof.
Above: A cozy living room is set at one end of the open space.
Above: A wooden kitchen is revealed behind a sliding wood door.
Above: Small but lofty bedrooms dictate minimalist design choices; an overhead skylight opens up the otherwise windowless room.
Above: While the front of the house is almost entirely windowless, the coastal side is completely open. Extending out from the back, a long terrace is set with concrete benches.
Above: Seen from certain elevations, the structure looks like a children's drawing of a house.
Above: The front of the main house has a single window and is instead lit by skylights.
For more on the project, visit Tham & Videgård and Yatzer.
Care to further explore the Stockholm archipelago? See Dry Heat: A Private Sauna on a Swedish Fjord, and have a look at the work of florists who forage from these forests in Seriously Wild: Landet Järna Explores Sweden's Local Flora.